Chronology for climate change: Developing age models for the biogeochemical ocean flux study cores

We construct age models for a suite of cores from the northeast Atlantic Ocean by means of accelerator mass spectrometer dating of a key core, BOFS 5K, and correlation with the rest of the suite. The effects of bioturbation and foraminiferal species abundance gradients upon the age record are modeled using a simple equation. The degree of bioturbation is estimated by comparing modeled profiles with dispersal of the Vedde Ash layer in core 5K, and we find a mixing depth of roughly 8 cm for sand-sized material. Using this value, we estimate that age offsets between unbioturbated sediment and some foraminifera species after mixing may be up to 2500 years, with lesser effect on fine carbonate (<10 mu m) ages. The bioturbation model illustrates problems associated with the dating of ''instantaneous'' events such as ash layers and the ''Heinrich'' peaks of ice-rafted detritus. Correlations between core 5K and the other cores from the BOFS suite are made on the basis of similarities in the downcore profiles of oxygen and carbon isotopes, magnetic susceptibility, water and carbonate content, and via marker horizons in X radiographs and ash beds

Development of an \u3ci\u3eIn Vitro\u3c/i\u3e Three-dimensional Breast Tissue Model to Decipher the Effects of Stromal Heterogeneity on Normal and Cancerous Mammary Epithelial Cells

A goal of breast cancer research is to develop a detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease progression and to generate approaches to improve early detection, monitoring, and treatment of breast cancerous lesions. Current breast cancer therapies are not successful for all cases as they were developed as a standard of care for \u27average\u27 breast cancer condition. To further current clinical success, the characteristics of each tumor mass must be considered. Such an individualized or personalized approach is incompatible with current understanding of \u27average\u27 breast cancer tumors and responses to treatments. The long-term objective of the present research is to develop modular breast tissue models to (1) further our understanding of individual breast cancer tumors and (2) monitor and develop customized treatment plans, thus contributing to breast tissue and breast cancer research. The main goal of this project was to develop a three-dimensional (3D) breast tissue in vitro test system using tissue engineering concepts. The model is uniquely different from existing models in that it accounts for extracellular matrix (ECM) heterogeneity through use of an ECM hydrogel embedded with polylactide beads. Furthermore, the 3D model was used to specifically investigate the effect of heterogeneity of the mammary microenvironment on normal human mammary epithelial cells (MCF10A) and human breast cancer cells (MCF7). Specifically, (1) polylactide beads with various physicochemical features were produced and characterized, (2) an ECM hydrogel representing the stromal component was evaluated and selected, and (3) a 3D tissue engineered composite system with and without polylactide beads, containing either MCF10A or MCF7 cells, was used to investigate the effects of microenvironment heterogeneity. Development of a benchmark 3D breast tissue model, where cellular interaction can be studied in an environment that is more representative of the native tissue, helps researchers better understand cell reactions and behaviors in breast cancer. This model allows the rapid assessment of therapies as well as controlled studies of basic breast cancer processes and mechanisms. The outcome of this research was the generation of a 3D in vitro breast tissue model that better mimics specific influences of the ECM in breast tissue and breast cancer progression. While the scientific merit of the proposed work was to advance the understanding of breast tissue development and early breast cancer stages, the goal was to reach outside the breast cancer community to share the work and progress. Further, the second objective of this research was to reach out to young scientists and engineers through an undergraduate introductory research program, highlighting interdisciplinary approaches in scientific endeavors. This initiative broadened the intellectual merit of the project and introduced ideas related to breast cancer research in other related fields of research, thereby generating additional in-depth research opportunities and advancements in the field of breast cancer research

Direct Measures of the Vigor of Ocean Circulation via Particle Grain Size

Physical oceanographers measure the intensity or vigor (transport or velocity) of ocean circulation via current meters, geostrophic calculations, satellite-tracked drifters, and modeling of tracer distributions. These techniques are complementary, and none are now used alone

Teaching Interprofessional Practice Skills by “Saving Humanity”: An Innovative IPE Curricular Method Using a Cooperative Strategy Board Game

Purpose: To provide allied health students with an innovative learning experience that promotes the values and skills needed for interprofessional practice. Background: Increasingly, team-based interprofessional collaboration is the central model of practice for health disciplines. Traditional education models often train students to become individually competent but not team competent. Learning competencies that promote team competency include the development of shared values, knowledge of roles, interprofessional communication techniques, and teamwork skills. Description of Intervention: Students from five health disciplines were placed on interprofessional teams. Students completed two pre and post-test measures, the Attitudes Towards Health Care Teams Scale and the Team Skills Scale. Each team had to cure four global pandemics in the cooperative strategy board game, Pandemic. Students played the game twice, with tighter constraints in the second game. After each game, students completed the Team Fitness Tool and debriefed about their strategies. Students discussed the parallels between playing Pandemic and interprofessional practice values and skills. Results: Paired t-tests from the thirty-six students indicated statistically significant increases in mean post-test scores. Students reported more favorable attitudes toward team-based health care practice as well as increased aptitudes to work on such teams. Students rated their teams as being significantly more competent and effective after the second game compared to the first attempt. Qualitative themes included the importance of understanding their own roles as well as the roles of others, valuing allied health professionals, engaging in open communication, and patient-centered care. Conclusion: The use of Pandemic as a teaching tool for promoting interprofessional education was clearly demonstrated by this intervention. Students articulated a direct link between playing the game and serving on an interprofessional health care team. Relevance to Interprofessional Education and Practice: This game can be beneficial in both interprofessional education and professional health care settings to promote team competency. Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will learn the value of using cooperative strategy board games in both interprofessional education and practice settings. 2. Participants will be able to articulate why team-based competence is equally, if not more, important to individual competence. 3. Participants will learn how to set up and play the cooperative strategy board game Pandemic. 4. Participants will be able to identify central questions to use during debrief discussions with students and/or colleagues following game play. 5. Participants will be able to identify quantitative measures for assessing changes in interprofessional practice values and skills

An Examination of Health Providers' HPV Vaccination Behaviors, Perceived Barriers, and Supports: A Four State Analysis.

This study's main research asked which combination of predictors, including type of health provider, type of state policy initiative, overall barriers scores, and overall supports scores, is most predictive of HPV vaccination rates for providers serving girls ages 9-17? Data was collected from May to October 2008 from health providers in four states. Using a proportionate stratified random sample, 1490 potential participants were sent a mail survey. The final sample included 227 respondents. Results indicated that health providers are vaccinating older females at significantly higher rates than younger teens and pre-adolescents in three of the four states. Of the four predictors, fewer barriers were predictive of increased vaccination rates for providers vaccinating girls 9-12 and girls 13-17. Important barriers to consider are financial burden and negative perception of parents about vaccination. Type of health provider, specifically being a pediatrician, was also predictive of HPV vaccination for girls ages 13-17

Distinguishing current effects in sediments delivered to the ocean by ice. I. Principles, methods and examples.

There are climatically important ocean flow systems in high latitudes, for example the East and West Greenland and Labrador Currents and Nordic Sea overflows in the North, and Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the South, for which it would be useful to know history of flow strength. Most of the sediment records under these flows contain evidence of supply from glacial sources, which has led to the supposition that fine sediment records, which in other settings provide evidence of vigour of flow from the sortable silt proxy, are fatally contaminated by unsorted glacial silt. It is suggested here that if the fine fraction (< 63 μm) has been transported and sorted, then it does not matter that it may have been released from icebergs, sea ice or meltwater plumes. Here we show that correlation between sortable silt mean and percentage provides a good indicator of whether a fine sediment record has been sufficiently well current-sorted to provide a reliable flow history. The running downcore correlation (r run ) (5 to 9-point depending on sampling interval) is found to be optimal, and a value of r run < 0.5 is proposed as an indicator of sufficiently poor sorting to invalidate a section of mean size record. More than 40 grainsize records determined by laser particle sizers from over 30 core sites have been processed and examined for evidence of sorting. As expected, there is a tendency for poor sorting and unreliable records at points where the flow speed has decreased to very low values. There is no consistent relationship between the sorting of the fine fraction and the content of coarse ice-rafted debris (as long as the IRD fraction is not > 50%) because the two are not related. End member (EM) decomposition of several records yields variable results in terms of the relationship between EM ratios and grainsize parameters. Although such an approach can generate fine sediment parameters it does not provide a basis for deciding whether or not a record is acceptably current sorted and thus contains a valid flow speed proxy. Our proposed discrimination between current-sorted and unsorted fine fractions is applicable to all fine grained deposits, not only high-latitude deposits with coarse IRD

Human Sexuality as a Critical Subfield in Social Work

Human sexuality is of vital importance to social work practitioners, educators, and scholars. Yet historically, the profession’s leadership around it has waxed and waned, impacting practice. This article discusses the importance of human sexuality as a critical subfield within social work. It suggests that the mechanisms, namely textbooks, journals, and national conferences, for stimulating human sexuality social work scholarship are limited. The authors assert that the taboo of human sexuality limits the advancement of a cohesive professional discourse and contributes to the continued oppression of marginalized populations. Recommendations for providing better support for those who study, teach, and practice in the arena of human sexuality are offered

A Retrospective Study of Teen Pregnancy in West Virginia from 2003 -2008: A Descriptive Analysis

In 2006, West Virginia surpassed the national average birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 years old. Through the use of the state wide Birth Score data, this article presents a retrospective examination of 8,094 teens who gave birth in West Virginia during the years of 2003-2008. Descriptive data on health issues such as prenatal care, infant birth weight and mortality, as well as demographic characteristics, such a racial background and Medicaid status are presented. Implications of these health issues are discussed along with special considerations for health providers who work within the Appalachian region

A boundary exchange influence on deglacial neodymium isotope records from the deep western Indian Ocean

The use of neodymium (Nd) isotopes to reconstruct past water mass mixing relies upon the quasi-conservative behaviour of this tracer, whereas recent studies in the modern oceans have suggested that boundary exchange, involving the addition of Nd from ocean margin sediments, may be an important process in the Nd cycle. Here we suggest that the relative importance of water mass advection versus boundary exchange can be assessed where the deep western boundary current in the Indian Ocean flows past the Madagascan continental margin; a potential source of highly unradiogenic Nd. Foraminiferal coatings and bulk sediment reductive leachates are used to reconstruct bottom water Nd isotopic composition (εNd) in 8 Holocene age coretops, with excellent agreement between the two methods. These data record spatial variability of ∼4 εNd units along the flow path of Circumpolar Deep Water; εNd≈−8.8 in the deep southern inflow upstream of Madagascar, which evolves towards εNd≈−11.5 offshore northern Madagascar, whereas εNd≈−7.3 where deep water re-circulates in the eastern Mascarene Basin. This variability is attributed to boundary exchange and, together with measurements of detrital sediment εNd, an isotope mass balance suggests a deep water residence time for Nd of ≤400 yr along the Madagascan margin. Considering deglacial changes, a core in the deep inflow upstream of Madagascar records εNd changes that agree with previous reconstructions of the Circumpolar Deep Water composition in the Southern Ocean, consistent with a control by water mass advection and perhaps indicating a longer residence time for Nd in the open ocean away from local sediment inputs. In contrast, sites along the Madagascan margin record offset εNd values and reduced glacial–interglacial variability, underlining the importance of detecting boundary exchange before inferring water mass source changes from Nd isotope records. The extent of Madagascan boundary exchange appears to be unchanged between the Holocene and Late Glacial periods, while a consistent shift towards more radiogenic εNd values at all sites in the Late Glacial compared to the Holocene may represent a muted signal of a change in water mass source or composition